Wild Oats XI firmed its position as line honours favourite for the Sydney to Hobart yacht race after blitzing its rivals by more than a minute in the SOLAS Big Boat Challenge around Sydney Harbour on Tuesday.
Christmas sails: Wild Oats XI leads the field in the Big Boat Challenge on Tuesday. Photo: Getty Images
Fifteen boats took on the14 nautical mile course, but all eyes were on the three supermaxis ��� Wild Oats XI, Perpetual Loyal and Comanche ��� which were vying for a psychological edge before the Boxing Day race.
The Big Boat Challenge is the traditional lead-up race to the Sydney to Hobart, and is seen by the entrants as a final chance to size up competitors.
In race mode for the first time, sleek American newcomer Comanche showed the feverish hype surrounding its debut has been warranted. It crossed the line in second place, fuelling chatter it could deny Wild Oats an eighth line-honours victory in Hobart.
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Wild Oats skipper Mark Richards praised the American boat, which finished just one minute and 22 seconds behind Wild Oats' line-honours pace.
"We were really impressed with Comanche's speed today," Richards said. "They weren't that far behind us and [conditions] probably suited us more than them.
Comanche's skipper, Ken Read, said his crew, with just three days of practice under its belt, "couldn't be happier" with the outcome.
"The boat is design to do exactly the opposite of what we did today," Read said. "I couldn't be more proud of the crew after three long days of practising, figuring out how to get the sails up and down and not embarrass ourselves."
But Read conceded that Comanche remained a largely untested vessel in the notorious conditions often struck in the Sydney to Hobart race.
"Do we know how it's going to handle? Do we know if it's going to stay in one piece? The answer, quite frankly, is that we have no idea."
Comanche, striking an intimidating presence on the harbour with its black and red hull, twice eclipsed Wild Oats in the first lap after Bob Oatley's supermaxi surrendered an early lead due to a sail malfunction.
The sail tangled at the first turn.
"I thought we were going to be absolutely gone," Richards said before crediting his crew members' ability to recover and go on to take line honours.
Perpetual Loyal, once touted as the fasted supermaxi in the world, had a disappointing finish. It was denied third place line honours by Black Jack.
"We are improving," Perpetual Loyal skipper Anthony Bell said. "This time last year we shredded a spinnaker, and today we just tied it up in ropes.
"If we're going to have [a bad day], probably happier having one today."
Also celebrating on Tuesday evening was the overall winner, Ichi Ban. Its skipper, Matt Allen, said recent modifications had paid off.
"We're really pleased with where we are," he said. "We are now starting to see the performance capability of the boat."